Peace Negotiator Abdullah Abdullah in Tehran
Iran Supports Afghan Peace Talks With Taliban
TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif said here Sunday Iran supports peace talks between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban militant group as well as agreements reached between the two sides.
Zarif made the remarks in a meeting with Abdullah Abdullah, the head of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR), who arrived in the Iranian capital earlier in the day for a three-day visit.
The minister hailed Abdullah’s role in Afghanistan’s politics as he reiterated Iran’s support for the Islamic government in Afghanistan and an Afghan-led peace process.
Abdullah briefed Iran’s top diplomat on the latest developments in his country, including the intra-Afghan negotiations.
Abdullah later met Iran’s Parliament Speaker Muhammad Baqer Qalibaf. His itinerary also includes talks with President Hassan Rouhani and Secretary of Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani.
Prior to his trip to Iran, he visited Pakistan and India in efforts to win regional support for the intra-Afghan talks.
Negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban group began in the Qatari capital city of Doha on September 12 to end decades of conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people.
At the end of his three-day visit to Pakistan on September 30, the top Afghan negotiator said the government in Kabul and the Taliban were nearing a compromise on major issues of contention.
He said that after several small-group meetings in Doha, the issue of the Hanafi school of thought had been resolved "to a large extent.”
Both sides have provisionally agreed "to recognize the principal issue of Hanafi’s role without any discrimination to Shia communities or minorities, so… the compromise is around that,” Abdullah said.
The Taliban had insisted on strict adherence to the Hanafi school of jurisprudence, but the Afghan government’s negotiating team worried it could be used to discriminate against the Shia community and other religious minorities.
Among other obstacles in the
negotiations is the extent to which the Taliban would recognize the legitimacy of the Kabul government under a future deal.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Abbas Araqchi in July said Tehran was ready to help the Afghan government advance the peace process.
In a meeting with Afghanistan’s Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Muhammad Hanif Atmar in Kabul, Araqchi expressed hope that the intra-Afghan talks would soon kick off with the participation of all political factions.
Zarif made the remarks in a meeting with Abdullah Abdullah, the head of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR), who arrived in the Iranian capital earlier in the day for a three-day visit.
The minister hailed Abdullah’s role in Afghanistan’s politics as he reiterated Iran’s support for the Islamic government in Afghanistan and an Afghan-led peace process.
Abdullah briefed Iran’s top diplomat on the latest developments in his country, including the intra-Afghan negotiations.
Abdullah later met Iran’s Parliament Speaker Muhammad Baqer Qalibaf. His itinerary also includes talks with President Hassan Rouhani and Secretary of Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani.
Prior to his trip to Iran, he visited Pakistan and India in efforts to win regional support for the intra-Afghan talks.
Negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban group began in the Qatari capital city of Doha on September 12 to end decades of conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people.
At the end of his three-day visit to Pakistan on September 30, the top Afghan negotiator said the government in Kabul and the Taliban were nearing a compromise on major issues of contention.
He said that after several small-group meetings in Doha, the issue of the Hanafi school of thought had been resolved "to a large extent.”
Both sides have provisionally agreed "to recognize the principal issue of Hanafi’s role without any discrimination to Shia communities or minorities, so… the compromise is around that,” Abdullah said.
The Taliban had insisted on strict adherence to the Hanafi school of jurisprudence, but the Afghan government’s negotiating team worried it could be used to discriminate against the Shia community and other religious minorities.
Among other obstacles in the
negotiations is the extent to which the Taliban would recognize the legitimacy of the Kabul government under a future deal.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Abbas Araqchi in July said Tehran was ready to help the Afghan government advance the peace process.
In a meeting with Afghanistan’s Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Muhammad Hanif Atmar in Kabul, Araqchi expressed hope that the intra-Afghan talks would soon kick off with the participation of all political factions.